After The Thanksgiving Feast
Tori took some extra time and scattered candles around her room. Then she took a quick shower to wash the aroma of the Vega Thanksgiving dinner off herself. Anointing special spots with the sandalwood fragrance that her girl loved, the singer slid into her special outfit.
A knock on the door was followed by, "Good night Princess."
Tori smiled, she loved it when her father called her a princess. "G'night Daddy. Keep the shoppers safe!"
"Already done. The bad guys hear David Vega is on patrol and they cower in their rat lairs..." he responded with a laugh.
Quickly lighting her candles, Tori turned the lights out and lay back on her bed.
It was only a matter of time now...
Earlier that day...
"Why does football have to start so early?" Tori whined as she burrowed further under the covers.
"Because those light-weights back east can't handle games starting later than early afternoon," Jade replied. She pulled on her Rodgers jersey and a pair of shorts.
Peeping one eye out from under the blanket, Tori asked, "Is he playing today?"
Aaron Rodgers, the Packers quarterback and one of the best in the league, was injured early in the season playing their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears.
"Nah, still out from that broken collarbone, damn it. Still, it's my favorite Packers jersey." Jade turned to the bed and asked, "You getting up any time soon?"
Tori came down in bunny-covered pajama bottoms and a Green Bay t-shirt. Jade was on the couch with a mug of coffee watching the Fox Pregame Show. She crossed to the kitchen and kissed her mom with a bright, "Happy Thanksgiving!"
"Happy Thanksgiving, baby."
Tori got some coffee and asked, "Dad?"
"I'm letting him sleep in. Your father has to work third shift tonight. Extra cops are being put on to protect those people who just can't wait to shop." Holly shook her head, she had worked retail on Black Friday when she was younger and hated even going to convenience stores the day after Thanksgiving as she knows how ragged those early bird shoppers were and are. And it's even worse now with some stores opening on Thanksgiving night and others at ungodly hours like 4 AM on Friday.
Her disdain of Black Friday had rubbed off on her youngest daughter. Said daughter shook her head, "It's nuts. Need some help with dinner?"
"Later. I'm just making sure I have everything I need. Pavilion's is open until 4. Your dad can make a grocery run if I need anything."
Approaching the sofa, Tori brightly said, "Happy Thanksgiving, Jade."
"Yeah, yeah. Sit down already."
Tori sat and looked at Jade. "Do you have something to say?"
"I already said it. If you can't bother to wake up enough to hear me..." Jade turned a bland face towards her girlfriend, "I don't do multiple 'Happy Anything'. You know that."
"It doesn't count if I'm asleep."
"Yes it does. You smiled." Jade smiled then. "Now, hush. Rob Riggle is giving his picks."
A part of the Fox Pregame was comedian Rob Riggle's always hilarious short where he has fun with the game, the players and with the Fox broadcasters before he would list his four picks for winners that day.
Tori recalled his first one where he sang the graces of New York City and the upcoming Superbowl at Giants Stadium. Hilarious routines filmed all over the Big Apple were capped when New Jersey Governor Chris Christy came up to him and reminded Riggle that Giants Stadium is in New Jersey.
This time, Tori thought he looked like a refugee from "Duck Dynasty".
"You ever notice, when he's not wearing goofy make up like this, Riggle looks kind of like Dickers."
Tori turned to Jade, "The vice principal?"
"Yeah, except Riggle has a sense of humor..."
"That's kinda creepy," Tori replied.
After a few more minutes in the Fox Sports studio, the coverage shifted to Detroit for the annual Thanksgiving game, a tradition started the Motor City in 1935. It was a carryover from the earliest days of football back in the 1870s when the sport was organized on a collegiate level by the Ivy League schools of the East Coast.
A giant American flag was displayed across the playing field as Jackie Evancho, a thirteen year old Platinum recording artist, sang the National Anthem before the kickoff. Her voice was incredible and both Tori and Jade had a tear in their eye when the young teen finished.
After a moment, Jade turned to Tori and said, "That's how you sing the National Anthem."
"Shut up!"
Tori's phone vibrated on the table and Jade grabbed it. "Andre agrees with me."
"No he doesn't!"
Jade thrust Tori's phone in front of her face, saying, "Read the phone, Tori. Read. The. Phooonnne..."
"I hate it when you do that," Tori said as she grabbed her phone and read Andre's text. She typed a quick reply and turned her phone off even as it buzzed in her hand, indicating another text. The phone was slapped screen-down on the table. Tori muttered, "Probably Beck now..."
"What did you say?" Jade snickered.
"Told him to shut up," Tori huffed.
An early turn over gave the Packers the ball and had Jade on her feet hooting at the TV.
During the Packers first possession of the game, Eddie Lacy ran three times and gained yards for Green Bay. Jade, for the last time that Thanksgiving, yelled, "I LOVE LACY!"
Jade had become infatuated with the Green Bay running back as he ran for high yardage in most of the team's games. This time the Detroit defense held him to only sixteen yards, less than a week after he ran for over one hundred yards.
Losing possession on downs, Jade watched as Detroit ran the field for the first score of the game - fortunately for Packer fans, it was only a three-point field goal. By the end of the First Quarter, she was sitting quietly on the sofa next to Tori. She had learned not to vent her frustration when the Pack were being outplayed within ear shot of Holly Vega.
The tension was relieved when the Packers got a field goal to tie the game. Jade was on her feet again when Detroit's quarterback, Matt Stafford, had the ball stripped and Burnett, on the Packers defensive line, retrieved the ball and ran it in for a touchdown.
"Wooo! WOOOOO!"
From that point until the final victory for Detroit, the Goth sat quietly on the sofa. At Halftime, she went into the garage and some noise drifted into the house.
"Happy tantrum?" Tori asked as the Third Quarter started.
"Shut up."
No more words came from Jade and the noise in the garage was even more intense after the Packers lost decisively to their old rivals.
About that time, Holly said, "David, can you run to Pavilion's for me? I need a couple more pota..."
Tori jumped up, grabbed the small list from her mother and ran to the garage. "Jade, we gotta go to the store." The Goth stared at the wall fixedly. Tori added, "Now!"
On the way to the grocery store, Tori asked, "You okay, babe?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just can't believe how much that game sucked!"
"But you got it out of your system?"
"Yep."
"Good. We're going to have a good time this afternoon and tonight."
When they got to the parking lot at Pavilion's, it was about a quarter full. Tori scanned the lot, found a parking space, and declared, "Hmmm, better than last year."
Jade stopped her from leaving the car and pulled Tori to her. The kiss that followed was heated and Tori immediately succumbed to Jade's magical tongue.
A car door slammed and they both looked up. The sedan next to them had a mother glaring at them in disgust from the driver's seat. Beyond, they saw the woman's son/nephew/whatever giving them a thumbs up with a big smile. Jade started to flip the woman off but Tori grabbed her hand and then smiled sweetly at the woman as she quickly back out and tore across the lot.
It took the pair less than five minutes to get the baking potatoes, the carton of whipping cream (Jade said Cool Whip or the stuff from the spray can was good enough but Tori shook her head), the cream cheese, the carrots and the cherry tomatoes for the salad.
Then it took them nearly thirty minutes in the self-checkout lanes that Jade steered them to. Tori agreed when she saw how glacially slow the other lanes were.
While standing and waiting, Jade groaned, "Oooohhh, this line hasn't moved. Why won't this line move? Hey, Old Lady! Do you really need two bags of potato chips? C'mon!"
In a much quieter voice, Tori sternly whispered, "Ssh... C'mon Jade. You'll get us thrown out and we'll have to go to Northridge to find the next closest store."
With a mad pout and crossed arms, Jade agreed, "Oh, alright!" She huffed twice then picked up the carton of whipping cream, "What's the deal with the whipped cream?"
"Mom likes to go all out for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She mashes her own potatoes, makes her own cranberry jelly and whips the cream before she serves the pumpkin pie. Remember last Christmas?"
"I remember a lot of things about Christmas... And Christmas Eve..." Jade said wickedly as she pinched Tori's butt.
"EEEP! Stop that!" a red-faced Tori ordered. Several heads turned again to the 'rude teenagers' but a couple had smiles on their faces as they watched the two young lovers. "You can have all the fake whipped cream you want on the leftovers. Dad bought the wrong kind." Shaking her head with a small smile, Tori added, "He does that every year..."
"Yes! The line is moving!" Jade declared loudly. Then added, "Enjoy the potato chips!"
"Jade!"
By the time the pair returned home, Holly said, "You've been gone nearly an hour! I was getting worried."
"We, um... The, uh, the store..."
"The store was crowded," Jade said. "Took a long time."
Holly nodded then said, "You both might want to fix your lipstick before Sophie gets here."
She snickered as the two red-faced girlfriend headed upstairs.
Upstairs, they decided to see how much more they could mess up their lipstick before fixing it. Naturally, the easiest way to do this was to kiss. Also, it was the most fun.
Tori broke from Jade when she heard the doorbell. They had smeared their lipstick so much that it was barely visible so it was easy to fix. Then Tori raced downstairs, yelling "Aunt Sophie!"
Jade delayed upstairs, giving Tori a chance to get caught up with her favorite aunt. They rarely saw each other since Sophie lived in Fresno where she worked for the State's Attorney General's office, liaison between the CBI and local law enforcement.
Another reason for Jade's reluctance to head down. While she hadn't done anything illegal, per se, they all had been involved in events that arguably were crimes.
After about twenty minutes, Tori yelled upstairs and Jade yelled back before coming down.
She could see the family resemblance between her Tori, Holly and Sophie, who was Holly's younger sister.
Greetings and introductions ensued and Sophie said, "Tori, I like this girl. She reminds me of me when your mother and I were younger."
Holly chimed in from the kitchen, "Yeah, Sophie was a real hellion. And she's still a brat!"
"Hey!"
About that time, the front door flew open and a small figure raced in and grabbed Jade around the waist from behind. "JADIE!"
From the still open doorway came a voice, "Young man! How many times have I told you not to barge in on people?"
Meanwhile, Jade whipped around, grabbed her little brother and flipped him upside down. Giggles erupted from the boy as Jade said, "You know the penalty, Little Man."
In mock horror, he panted, "Not the Tickle Twins!"
"Yep! But just one twin this time," Jade promised. She held him upside-down with her left arm as she tickled him mercilessly with her right hand.
The giggles turned to laughter then to laughing screams as the boy wriggled in his sister's grip. A stern voice broke in. "Jadelyn West, release my nephew this instant!"
Her heart leaping in her chest, Jade dumped the giggling mass of young boy on the couch and ran into her aunt's arms. "Aunt Michelle! Mom didn't tell me you were here!"
"I wanted to surprise you, sweetie. Surprise!"
Tori joined in the hug before the Terror came and grabbed her, trying to tickle his future sister-in-law. And succeeding.
Meanwhile, Michelle and Judy both gave Holly bottles of wine. Judy said, "You told us not to bring any food but we couldn't come empty-handed."
Along with the wine Sophie brought and the wine the Vegas had, the small wine rack in the kitchen was full.
"Happy Thanksgiving!" Trina sang, off-key, as she slowly came down the stairs.
"Aaggh! The Screechbox!" Jade yelled.
"Jade!" Tori said as she slapped her girlfriend's arm.
"Well? She does sound like a wounded banshee..."
Trina pouted as the others laughed. Sophie hugged her niece and Trina's mood changed. Especially when the older woman said, "I love your singing, Trina."
"You aunt must be tone deaf," Jade whispered to Tori who tried not to giggle.
A hand slapped Jade's leg from her other side. Michelle whispered, "Jade, that's not nice." Then she smiled and added, "Even if it's true..."
Shortly, any remaining introductions were made and everyone settled into the living room to chat. Holly was in and out of the kitchen, always eschewing any help from the others.
Tori, Jade and Trina made sure everyone had something to drink as they enjoyed the spinach dip and crackers as the Cowboys played out the second half of the game on the TV in the background.
Jade nudged Tori as they came in from the kitchen with wine for their guests. Tori followed Jade's prompt and saw Sophie, Michelle and Judy talking like old pals.
David was explaining the game to the youngest West who was enthralled. (Jade later told Tori and David that her father, an avid football fan, never took the time to try to explain the game to his only son. The Vegas refrained from saying what they thought of Don West but Jade didn't, "He's a total ass.")
"Jadey, sit with me! Watch the game with me!"
Tori gave her girl a big smile, "Go spend time with your brother. I got this."
Trina handed the beer and wine in her hands to Tori, "Thanks, Sis."
Conversations ebbed and flowed between everyone in the living room. Except Jade who kept most of her attention focused on her sibling. She enjoyed teaching him about football. And Tori, sitting on the other side of Jade, loved watching the two together.
The Tin Terror headed to the bathroom during the two-minute warning break and Tori said, "Jade, I love seeing you with your brother. You are so sweet and nice. I mean I know you are but you drop the armor with him and I get to see the real you out in the open."
"In the open?"
"Well, I see it in the bedroom. Except when we..."
"Get kinky, Vega?" Jade teased. "Shut up. Here he comes."
As the little one launched himself, he yelled, "Jadey!"
Until...
"David, it's time!"
"Aw, now?" He had been enjoying being only one of two males in a room of attractive women.
"Yesss..." hissed Holly.
"Ah fair ladies, duty calls!"
A few minutes later, Holly called, "Trina, Tori, Jade, please come here."
With the extra guests, dinner was served buffet style. All the entrees and side dishes, along with the plates and silverware, were set out on the dining table. Everyone sat on the sofas, or chairs in the living room.
The table spread included sliced turkey breast, sliced honey-baked ham, dressing, hand-mashed potatoes, gravy, candied yams with marshmallows, peas with pearl onions, a corn-cheese casserole, homemade cranberry sauce with cream cheese and freshly baked dinner rolls. On the kitchen counter was a large bowl holding a tossed salad with different salad dressings, croutons and bacon bits.
Everybody got a little of everything except Jade's brother who took extra yams and made sure he got a lot of marshmallows. Everyone also got second helpings.
Holly encouraged them, "Eat up! The fewer leftovers I have, the easier it will be to get these picky eaters to finish them off..."
After dinner, they gathered for a few minutes in the living room to relax. David insisted that Holly sit too, "The dishes can wait a few minutes."
Everyone had a glass of wine, except the littlest guest who had pink lemonade. Everyone was content and happy. The atmosphere was warm and convivial. Something Holly had secretly hoped for with strangers meeting for the first time.
A burp erupted followed by a giggle. Jade looked at her brother, "That the best you can do?"
Then she let out a gut-buster.
"Jade!?" Tori said, mock-horrified.
Then Trina belched and Tori looked at her. "I can top that!"
Tori burped, besting her sister but not Jade.
"Okay! Enough already!" Holly called out just as David erupted. "DAVID!"
"What? It's a compliment in Asia."
"We're not in Asia or even Little Tokyo..."
The catalyst of the burp war yelled, "No. We're in Vegaville!"
Laughter filled the room.
"With that, I'm going to clean up and then get the desert ready."
Sophie stood, "No Sis. You made the dinner. We'll clean up. Won't we girls?"
Their aunt's gaze fell on the Vega sisters and they both groaned. Tori slowly tried to get up and Jade pushed on her butt, helping her to her feet.
Trina's groan turned into a typical whine, "But I'm soooo full..."
Judy and Michelle started to rise but Sophie waved them back. "We got this."
Once in the kitchen, Sophie gave her nieces another glass of wine each. "Consider it a bribe."
Michelle moved to sit by her nephew and they started to talk to each other in quiet voices. Judy was chatting with David and Holly while Jade just sat back with a full tummy and a feeling of contentment.
Tori called to her mom, "Did you want me to start the coffee maker?"
Before Holly could respond, Jade yelled, "Yes!"
Holly got up and headed for the kitchen to make sure everything was flowing smoothly. Jade took her mother out onto the patio.
"So, how's Aunt Michelle? And why didn't you tell me she was coming?!"
Judy smiled at her daughter. "She's fine. And she wanted her visit to be a surprise. But that's not what you're really asking."
"No." Jade admitted. She normally could be abrupt and abrasive to just about anyone but her brother, Aunt Michelle, Holly and David Vega and, of course, Tori - in private. Since she and her mother had resolved their differences, the elder West was in that elite group as well.
"Your aunt and I have a lot of ground to cover. We're still friends but I don't know what will happen. I still love her but..."
"Is there a chance?" Jade asked hopefully.
"Of course but we are taking it slowly. People change and it's been almost a decade since we even saw each other. And even longer since we were together... Well, you know..."
Mother and daughter blushed. Jade, normally not embarrassed by sex, was, like any teen, uncomfortable when it came to her mother's sex life.
"Jade, I promise you, we're going to give it a shot. But whatever happens, we will be a family again."
"Thanks Mom." Jade hugged Judy who held her daughter tightly, both fighting not to cry.
Tori poked her head out and asked, "Who wants desert? Oh... Sorry."
Judy grabbed Tori's arm and pulled her into the embrace. "Thank you, Tori. You've done so much for my little girl... I don't know how to...'
Then the happy tears came.
The Vega Thanksgiving continued for several hours, even after the Tiny Terror curled up in one of the side chairs and dozed off.
Sophie asked, "So, Jade, why the Tiny Terror?"
Jade smirked, "There's this old movie called The Terror of Tiny Town."
"Oh yeah, I've heard of that. A midget western. All the people who played Munchkins in The Wizard of Oz were in it," David offered.
Jade looked impressed and agreed. "Yeah. I've never seen it but the name fits..."
She smiled sweetly at her slumbering brother even as she spoke.
Judy spoke up, "You're the one who spoils him rotten."
"Moi?" Jade said innocently.
"Vous," Tori replied in agreement.
"Hey! You don't speak French!" Jade said.
"Moi?" Tori said in a meek voice and her hand over her heart.
"Yeah, you..." Jade responded. "Tickle Twin time..."
Tori's squeals and giggles woke up the small one and he joined in.
Sophie muttered to Michelle, "They are a cute couple, aren't they?"
"Definitely."
Two hours later...
Jade came into the dimly lit room and looked around. She saw Tori reclining on the bed and smiled. She purred, "I like Holidays at the Vegas."
Tori slowly stood up, showing the sheer black-lace robe that hung just below her torso over the matching lacy, barely-there bra and panties.
Jade's eyes were focused on Tori as the girl slowly, sexily walked up to her. "Wh...what's this for?"
Tori draped her arms loosely around Jade's neck with a sexy smile. She briefly kissed Jade's lips then whispered in her ear, "You said you love lace..."
Entranced, it took Jade a couple of moments to figure out what was being said to her. Then she said, "Oh. Oh! I meant I love Eddie La..."
The kiss effectively silenced Tori. She broke the kiss and whispered against Jade's lips, "I don't care..."
Tori's tongue slid into Jade's mouth, caressing Jade's tongue sinuously. Retreating, it brought Jade's tongue to Tori who gently nipped it and began to suck on the small, welcome invader.
Stepping back, Tori asked, in a low, throaty voice, "Want to join me?"
Then she returned to the bed. As the future superstar lay back, her beautiful hair fanned out on the pillow.
Almost tripping in her haste to strip, Jade growled in desire before she found herself naked on their bed with her lover (still in the black lace Jade did love), between her legs, making her see glory.